Free template
Non-conformance report (NCR) form
A non-conformance report (NCR) records a product, material or process that does not meet its requirement, what was done to contain it and what happens to the parts. Page 1 of this form identifies the part, lot and quantities and where the problem was found, sets the requirement next to what was found, and records the containment: where suspect parts were checked, how many were bad and how they were identified. Page 2 records the disposition (use as is, rework, scrap, return to supplier or other) with approvals, the cause, whether a corrective action (CAPA) is needed, an optional cost and closure. The Excel version is an NCR log with status and days open, overdue NCRs flagged, and counts by where the problem was found and by disposition.
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
When to use it
When to use an NCR form
- Whenever a part, material or product fails a requirement at receiving, in process, at final inspection or at the customer.
- When suspect stock has to be held until someone authorized decides what happens to it.
- To record a concession when parts are used as they are.
- To track nonconformances and their cost over time, and see which ones need a CAPA.
How to fill it in
- 1
Identify the parts
Part number, name, revision, lot, quantity checked and quantity bad, and where it was found.
- 2
State the requirement and what was found
The drawing or specification with its limit, next to the measured value or defect. Attach photos or readings.
- 3
Contain it
Check stock, work in progress, parts in transit and at the customer. Tag the bad parts and move them to hold.
- 4
Decide the disposition
Use as is (under a concession), rework to the drawing, scrap, return to the supplier or another approved route, signed by the people authorized to decide.
- 5
Find the cause
Why it happened and why it was not caught. Decide whether it needs a corrective action (CAPA).
- 6
Close it
When the disposition is done and the parts are accounted for in the system, close the NCR.
A filled-in example
Illustrative, not a benchmarkAn example: an NCR raised at final inspection on a machined shaft (illustrative).
- Requirement: diameter 25.00 mm +0.00/−0.02 on drawing 4410 rev C. Found: 25.03 to 25.05 mm on 18 of 40 shafts checked.
- Containment: 160 shafts in finished stock checked, 31 more found oversize; none had shipped. All 49 tagged and moved to the hold cage.
- Disposition: rework, regrinding to size, approved by quality and engineering. All 49 reworked and rechecked.
- Cause: the grinder's size gauge had drifted after a wheel change, and the first-off check after the change was skipped. CAPA raised.
The NCR closed three days later with the rework cost logged against it, and the CAPA added a gauge check to the wheel-change procedure.
Common mistakes
Vague descriptions
"Bad parts" tells nobody anything. Write the requirement, the measured value and how many.
Containing only what is in front of you
Check stock, work in progress, parts in transit and at the customer.
Use as is without approval
Using a nonconforming part needs a concession from the people authorized to give it, sometimes the customer.
Every NCR a CAPA, or none
One-off, contained problems can close with the NCR. Repeats and systemic causes need a corrective action.
Parts left in limbo
Give the disposition an owner and a date, and close the NCR when the parts are dealt with.
Download the template
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
Run this template in LeanSuite
In LeanSuite operators raise an NCR from a QR code with photos, containment is tracked before root cause analysis starts, systemic issues become a CAPA, and scrap, rework and expedite costs are logged against each NCR.
In the lean glossary
FAQ
Non-conformance report (NCR) form: common questions
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